Safety oar lock and suspender



March 6, 1934.

A. SKINDEL ET AL SAFETY OAR LOCK AND SUSPENDER Filed April 24, 1933 Patented Mar. 6, 1934 UNITED STATES P-ATENT OFFICE Anthony Skindel and Owen J. Gillespie, Villas, N J

Application April 24, 1933, Serial No. 667,524

6 Claims.

Our invention relates to new and useful improvements in a safety oar lock and suspender and has for one of its objects to generally improve the construction of devices of this kind for flexibly suspending an oar in a manner that the friction on the parts will be reduced to a minimum.

Another object of the invention is to provide simple and eiiective means for adjusting the height of the oar within the oar lock.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the flexible part of the suspender will have two points of connection with the clamp or cradle which holds the oar.

A further object of the invention is to provide simple and effective means for removably mounting the car look in a socket carried by the gunnel of the boat.

A still further object of the invention is to provide in combination, a socket member to receive the shank of the car lock which will be removably held in place by a screw having threaded connection with the socket and projecting into a circular groove in the oar lock shank, the body of said oar'lock being of oval shape with the smaller end upward and providing a closed eye within which a pair of guideways are formed to receive the ends of a vertically adjustable block, the latter being carried by a screw projecting through a hub at the upper end of the oar lock and held in different adjusted positions by a nut screwed thereon, said adjustable block having one end of each of two chains connected therewith while the opposite ends are attached at separated locations to a clamp or cradle hung by said chains within the closed eye of the car lock, said clamp receiving and temporarily fixedly holding an oar.

With these and other ends in view, this invention consists in the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and then specifically designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains may understand how to make and use the same, we will describe its construction in detail, referring by numerals to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application, in which:-

Fig. 1 is a view partly in elevation and partly a part of the car look broken out to illustrate details of construction.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

In carrying out our invention as herein embodied, represents, conventionally, the gunnel of a row boat having a vertical hole therethrough for the reception of the depending socket 7 of the socket member 8 which also includes a flange 9 to rest upon the upper edge of the boat gunnel and be secured in place by suitable fastening devices 10, such as screws.

The car lock 11 includes an oval shaped body 12 with the larger end lowermost, and from said larger end projects a shank 13 fitted into the socket 7 where it will be held by a set screw 14 threaded through the socket 7 with its inner end projecting into the circular groove 15 formed about the outside of the shank 13. Between the shank and the body of the oar lock is formed a shoulder 16 which rests upon the uppermost face of the socket member 8.

At the upper or smaller end of the oar lock body is formed a hub 17 having a vertical hole 18 therethrough through which projects a screw or threaded rod 19 with a nut 20 screwed thereon for holding the screw or threaded rod 19 in any desirable vertical adjustment. The lower or inner end of said screw or threaded bolt 19 carries an adjusting block 21, somewhat narrower than the walls of the body of the oar lock, and said adjusting block is adapted to slide in guideways 22 formed in the inner surfaces of the body walls at the upper or smaller end of said oar lock body.

In actual practice the adjusting block and threaded rod may be produced as one element and in the form of a screw, wherein said adjusting block becomes the head of the screw but is fiat and narrow relative to the body of the car look.

One end of each of a pair of chains 23, or the equivalent thereof, such as flexible cables, are

attached to the adjusting block 21 either directly clamp or cradle or they may be attached to rinse 27 passing through holes in the clamp flanges and through the lower end links of the chains.

The clamp or cradle 26 includes an elongated round or tubular body 28 which will be caused to firmly grip the 100m of the car 29 as said body is contracted through the medium of any suitable fastening means, such as a bolt 30 passed through the flanges of the clamp with a nut 31 screwed thereon for drawing said flanges toward each other, thereby contracting the body of the clamp.

With the parts mounted on a boat as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the car may be used in the ordinary manner with a minimum of friction so that practically all of the force applied to the oars will be utilized in propelling the boat and when the oars are released for any reason whatever they will remain fastened in the oar locks, and if found desirable, the cars may be so positioned in the clamps as to have any desired balance best suited for the person using the oars. Also, if desirable, the cars can be so balanced that when released by the person using the same, they will assume a horizontal position with the blades of the oars actually out of the water, which is sometimes an advantage.

Whenever the oars are to be removed from the oar locks without the latter being removed from the boat, the nuts 20 are simply backed oif so asto permit the adjusting blocks 21 and their threaded rod or screw portions to be withdrawn,

and since the bodies of the car looks are much larger than the handle ends of the cars, the latter may be withdrawn from the oar locks, but

'- when it is desired to remove the car looks as well as the oars, the set screws 14: can be partly backed out and the oar lock shanks withdrawn from the sockets without disturbing the relation of the oar locks to their respective oars.

Of course we do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction herein shown and described as these may be varied within the limits of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of our invention.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new and useful is:-

1. An oar lock having an oval body to receive an ear with the smaller end of said body uppermost, an adjusting block slidably mounted in the upper end of said car look, a screw by which said block is carried passing through the upper end of the oar look, a nut threaded on said screw and engaging the car look to hold the block in place, and flexible suspension means for an oar connected .with said adjusting block.

2. A safety oar lock and suspender having a closed eye with a hub at one end, the walls of said eye having oppositely disposed vertical guideways therein adjacent the hub, an adjusting block slidably mounted in the guideways, a screw portion carried by said block and passing through the hub, a nut screwed on the projecting end of said screw part, an oar clamp for suspension within the eye, and flexible means connected to the ends of said clamp and to the adjusting block.

3. In a device of the kind described, an oval shaped body forming a closed eye, the inner faces of the walls of said body having oppositely located vertical guideways at the smaller end, a screw provided with a head functioning as an adjusting block with the threaded portion proecting through the smaller and of the body and the ends of the head registering with the guideways, a nut on said screw engaging the body to draw the adjusting block upward, and means for hanging an oar from the adjusting block within the car lock body.

4. In a device of the kind described, an oval shaped body forming a closed eye, the inner faces of the walls of said body having oppositely located vertical guideways at the smaller end, a screw provided with a head functioning as an adjusting block with the threaded portion projecting through the smaller end of the body and the ends of the head registering with the guideways, a nut on said screw engaging the body to draw the adjusting block upward, a clamp including an elongated longitudinally split body to receive an ear and a pair of parallel contiguous flanges along the edges of the split, means to draw the flanges toward each other for contracting the body about the oar loom, and flexible means connected with the flanges at the ends or" the clamp and with the adjusting block.

5. In a device of the kind described, an oval shaped body forming a closed eye, the inner faces of the walls of said body having oppositely located ei'tical guideways at the smaller end, a screw provided with a head functioning as an adjusting block with the threaded portion projecting through the smaller end of the body and the ends of the head registering with the guideways, a nut on said screw engaging the body to draw the adjusting block upward, a clamp including an elongated longitudinally split body to receive an car and a pair of parallel contiguous flanges along the edges of the split, means to draw the flanges toward each other for contracting the body about the car loom, a ring carried by the adjusting block, other rings carried by the flanges of the 1 ing a socket member having a screw threaded therein, a body formed to provide a closed loop and a depending shank with a circular groove thereabout, said shank being seated in the socket and the inner end of the screw projected into the groove to prevent accidental displacement of the body, said body being so formed that the closed loop is of oval shape with the smaller end uppermost, a clamp to be fastened about the loom of an oar, chains connected to the ends of said clamp, and means removably mounted in the smaller end of the body to which said chains are also connected.

' ANTHONY SKINDEL. OWEN J. GILLESPIE.

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